6. Profiles
6.6. Template profiles
A template profile allows you to add variables for individual parameters in the profile and to assign their values to thin clients.
Standard profiles AND master profiles can become template profiles through the use of variables.
Example
Previous solution
Up until now, a dedicated profile with global settings and session data would be created for each site. Sometimes, the desired combination of settings can be achieved by passing on various profiles.
Problem
In many cases, the desired settings cannot be combined via various profiles, e.g. for configuring a session. The unnecessarily large number of profiles is also difficult to manage in the long term.
Solution
The use of a single template profile offers greater flexibility. This contains all data for the browser session which are common to the thin clients as well as placeholders, so-called template keys. The template keys contain parameters which are to receive divergent values for different clients at different sites.
The template profile is then assigned to the clients directly or indirectly. The site-relevant template values are assigned to the particular clients that are to receive this value.
The thin client thus receives a profile whose settings are made up of fixed data updated in the profile and the template values assigned to it that are referenced by template keys in the profile.
A company's thin clients are spread across a number of sites. All clients are to receive a browser session with the same settings via a profile, but a different start page is to be
configured in the global settings for each site. It should also be possible to choose an individual session name for each site.
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Figure 44: Template profiles functional diagram
Template keys are used in one or more profiles. 1.
A template key has a number of values. 2.
The template profile is assigned directly or indirectly to a number of thin clients. 3.
A value from the key can be assigned to one or more thin clients. 4.
A thin client thus receives not only general profile settings but also the template value assigned to it instead of the configuration which is represented in the profile by the associated template key as a placeholder.
6.6.1.
Activate template profiles
If you would like to use the template profiles function, you must enable it first.
Enable template profiles in the UMS Console under UMS Administration→Global Configuration→Misc
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Figure 45: Activate template profiles
The Template Keys and Groups node will open in the navigation tree:
Figure 46: Template Keys and Value Groups
6.6.2.
Create template keys and values
To create template keys and values, proceed as follows: Open the context menu for the Template Keys folder. 1.
Click on New Template Key. 2.
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Figure 47: Create new template key
Alternatively, this function is also accessible via the menu System→New→New Template Key, the
focus must be on the Template Keys node.
An assistant will guide you through the steps for creating a new template key: Define a name for the key.
3.
Select a value type for the key (String, Checkbox, Integer or Floating point number). 4.
Optionally, give a description of the key. 5.
Click on Next. 6.
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To specify the first value of the key, proceed as follows: Enter the desired parameter value in the Value field. 1.
Optionally, add a description of the value. 2.
Click on Create Value. 3.
Figure 49: Create value for the key
To specify further values for the key, proceed as follows:
Change the entries under Value and Description.
1.
Click again on Create Value. 2.
Click on Finish to save the key with its values once you have created all desired values. 3.
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Figure 50: New template keys
The key with its values will be shown in the tree:
Figure 51: Template key and its values
The recommended workflow is to create template keys and values from the profile configuration (page
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Create keys and values in the profile
In profiles, specific parameters with a template key can be configured. To do this, combine the following steps to form a workflow:
• Create template keys and values (page 83) • Use template keys in profiles (page 89)
To use template keys when configuring a profile, proceed as follows: Open an existing profile or create a new profile.
1.
Click on Edit Configuration in order to bring up the parameters to be updated. 2.
Configure in the familiar manner the parameter values which are to apply to all thin clients with this 3.
profile.
Select a parameter which is to obtain a client-specific value from a template key. 4.
Click the activation symbol in front of the parameter until the desired function is active (here:Template 5.
key active):
The parameter is inactive and will not be configured by the profile.
The parameter is active and the set value will be configured by the profile, template keys are not available for the parameter.
The parameter is active and the set value will be configured by the profile, template keys are available for the parameter.
Template keys are active for this parameter, the profile receives a value from the key later on.
Certain parameters cannot be configured with template keys and only offer the option inactive or
active. This applies for example to passwords or parameters which depend on other configuration settings.
Click on the selection symbol in order to select a template key.
6.
Click on Add to create a new template key.
7.
An assistant will guide you through the steps for creating a new template key: Give a name for the key.
8.
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Optionally, give a description of the key. 9.
Figure 52: Creating a template key
Click on Next. 10.
To enter the first value of the key, proceed as follows: Define the desired parameter value in the Value field. 1.
Optionally, add a description of the value. 2.
Click on Create Value. 3.
In the case of parameters with a fixed value range such as selection menu or checkbox, the available options will be provided for selection. Click on Add all to create values for each entry in the value range or Create Value to add selected entries only.
Figure 53: Defining a value for the template key
Click on Finish to save the key with its values. 4.
Click on OK to return to the profile. 5.
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The key will be shown in the profile parameter:
Figure 54: New template key
Save the template profile. 6.
Profiles which use at least one template key in the configuration are labeled with a special symbol in
the navigation tree: .
6.6.3.
Use template keys in profiles
Template keys are listed in the Template Keys and Groups / Template Keys node in the navigation tree. They can be moved to their own sub-folders.
To use a template key in the profile, proceed as follows: Open an existing profile or create a new profile. 1.
In the profile configuration, bring up the parameters to be updated. 2.
Configure in the familiar manner the parameter values which are to be shared by all thin clients with 3.
this profile.
Now select a parameter which is to be supplied with client-specific values from a template key. 4.
Click the activation symbol in front of the parameter until the desired function is active 5.
(here:Template key active):
The parameter is inactive and will not be configured by the profile.
The parameter is active and the set value will be configured by the profile, template keys are not available for the parameter.
The parameter is active and the set value will be configured by the profile, template keys are available for the parameter.
Template keys are active for this parameter, the profile receives a value from the key later on.
Certain parameters cannot be configured with template keys and only offer the option inactive or
active. This applies for example to passwords or parameters which depend on other configuration settings.
Click on the selection symbol to choose a template key.
6.
Double-click on the desired template key. 7.
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Click on OK. 8.
Save the template profile. 9.
Profiles which use at least one template key in the configuration are labeled with a special symbol in
the navigation tree: .
6.6.4.
Assign template profiles and values to the thin clients
Once you have created the template keys and values and configured profiles using the template keys, you will need to bring together the keys and values again on the thin client.
To assign to a thin client a template profile and the values needed to replace the keys, proceed as follows: Select a template profile and assign it in the usual manner to a group of thin clients or a thin client 1.
directory.
Select a value for each template key used in the profile. 2.
Assign the relevant values to the corresponding thin clients. 3.
Figure 55: Example of template profile and value assignment
Assign further key values to further thin clients. Several values for various keys can also be assigned 4.
collectively (Shift and Ctrl keys).
Each thin client must then have an assigned value for each key in the assigned profiles. To check that template profiles and values have been assigned correctly, proceed as follows:
Click on Thin Clients in the top menu bar. 1.
Select Check the Template Definitions. 2.
The selected and checked thin clients are flagged according to the result: all template keys are defined
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Double-click on the message in the message window to open the error log for the check function: 3.
Figure 56: Check log
Or click on a thin client and the results of the check will be shown immediately:
Figure 57: Results of check on the thin client
As soon as the thin clients receive their updated profile settings (e.g. automatically after restarting the clients), the keys contained in the profile for each thin client will be replaced by the corresponding value from their assignment to the thin client and then transferred to the thin client. The local thin client setup thus receives only the usual parameter values and no more keys.
6.6.5.
Value groups
In value groups, logically associated values from various template keys can be brought together and assigned together to thin clients.
If for example you have various profiles which are to receive country-specific settings via template keys and value assignments, all values for a country / a language can be grouped in a value group. When such a group is assigned, a thin client also receives all values for its country / its language contained in it. To create a group, proceed as follows:
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Create a template profile with keys and values. 1.
Click on System→New→New Value Group in order to create a new value group.
2.
Enter a name and description for the group. 3.
Select the valid values from each key, multiple selections are possible. 4.
Figure 58: Selecting key values Confirm your settings by clicking on OK.
5.
Create further groups. 6.
Figure 59: One value group per country Assign the template profile to all thin clients.
7.
Assign the appropriate group in each case to the devices. 8.
Highlight the Thin Clients tree node. 9.
Click on Thin Clients→Check the Template Definitions in order to check the definitions. 10.
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The result is shown in the message window.
After the next restart or a manual transfer, the thin clients will receive the new session data with shared and country-specific profile settings.
The advantage of this method is that you only need to add further key values to the relevant value group in the future in order to assign these to the site's thin clients. In addition, a better overview is possible if there are a large number of template keys and values.
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